Embodiments described herein relate generally to systems, and methods for identifying and authenticating goods to prevent counterfeiting, and in particular identifying and authenticating a product using a combination of identifiers associated with the product.
Product counterfeiting is a major concern for manufacturers. It affects legitimate companies by violating their trademarks, devaluing corporate reputation, and can result in substantial lost revenue for companies. The trade undercuts jobs that would otherwise be offered by legitimate companies. In some cases, the trade involves a highly sophisticated network of organized crime, whose money may go for terrorism. Additionally, particular counterfeit products, for example, baby formula, pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices, and other products deemed for human consumption, can endanger the safety and well-being of people consuming the counterfeit products. In the global market, as counterfeiting technologies become more sophisticated, it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine whether a good delivered to a consumer is authentic.
A known method for preventing counterfeiting of products, for example, consumer products, is serialization. Serialization is the process of creating and applying unique traceable identifiers, for example, bar codes, QR codes, serial numbers, RFIDs, or any other identifiers on the product such that the product can be traced back to its origin at any point in the supply chain. In general, each level of packaging has a single unique identifier associated with it, which can be used to trace the product back to its origin. In some known instances, the level of protection against counterfeiting provided by a single identifier, for example, a single bar code on the product container is not sufficient. For example, counterfeits of known consumer products such as baby formula, are readily available in the Chinese market, and current identifiers provided on the consumer products are not able to prevent counterfeiting of such known products. Such counterfeit products can result in bodily harm and even death, as is evident by the death of Chinese babies due to consumption of counterfeit baby formula. Counterfeiting of such products is particularly difficult to identify at the point of sale, for example, at retail outlet or online stores with existing technology.
Therefore, there is a need for new systems, and methods for identification and authentication of consumer products to effectively prevent counterfeiting of consumer goods.